Evaluation of Anti-Asthmatic Activity of Essential Oils from the Lauraceae Family in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Stimulated NCI-H292 Cells

Abstract

The Lauraceae family has commercial uses, such as in the food, pharmaceutical, and perfume industries. This study was conducted to investigate anti-asthmatic activity of essential oils from the seven species in the Lauraceae family. The essential oils were extracted from the leaves of seven species, and the chemical composition was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major constituents of essential oils differed depending on the species, even if they belonged to the same family. The main constituents were camphor (89.09%) in Cinnamomum camphora, linalool (26.91%) in Cinnamomum cassia, 1,8-cineole (23.90%) in Cinnamomum japonicum, d-limonene (10.27%) and β-eudesmol (10.03%) in Lindera obtusiloba, δ-cadinene (13.85%) and α-phellandrene (11.57%) in Machilus japonica, cis-,trans-β-ocimene (13.80% and 12.06%) and elemol (11.46%) in Neolitsea aciculata, and cis-β-ocimene (37.94%) and sabinene (24.91%) in Neolitsea sericea. The anti-asthmatic activity of essential oils was investigated using the lipopolysaccharide-induced NCI-H292 cells. The relative expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6] and mucus gene (MUC5AC and MUC5B) were significantly reduced by essential oils from seven species in the Lauraceae family. Among the seven essential oils, the essential oil from L. obtusiloba had the most superior anti-asthmatic activity. These results suggest that the essential oil of L. obtusiloba leaves could be used as an agent to suppress mucus hypersecretion.